A personal area network (“PAN”) consists of two or more devices wirelessly communicating with each other over a short distance, typically 10 meters or less. PAN devices are often mobile devices such as mobile radios, cell phones, head phones, laptops, sensors, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) for example. Each user may be thought of as having his or her own personal area network where two or more wireless devices are paired or associated for cooperative communication. The range of an individual PAN is limited, but if multiple PAN users are in the same room or general area then coverage areas of other user's PANs will overlap.
Within close proximity to a PAN user may be other users having, for example, cellular phones and wireless headsets. A problem arises in how a user is to associate a new PAN device with the correct PAN in a situation where the device is within range of more than one PAN. There are many known ways to form a PAN association between a new PAN enabled device and an existing PAN device such as a cellular phone or mobile radio. In the case of certain wireless PAN networks such as BLUETOOTH enabled devices, the user can initiate a discover mode on the cellular phone to find other nearby in-range PAN devices. Often the discovered devices are presented to the user on the device's display screen, where the user can then use the cursor or keypad to select the PAN device with which the user wants to form an association. The user may then be prompted to enter a personal identification number (“PIN”) or a passcode to authenticate the device association and prevent unwanted device associations. Once authenticated, the BLUETOOTH protocol then establishes the communication channel between the two devices.
Known methods of associating or pairing devices in a personal area network have several disadvantages. One disadvantage is the requirement for a PIN or passcode to authenticate forming a device association. PIN codes and passcodes can be easily forgotten. Another disadvantage arises in that many PAN enabled electronic devices lack a keyboard or other means of entering a PIN or passcode directly on the device. An example of this might be a wireless headset. Another disadvantage arises in environments where mobile radios and PAN enabled devices are shared among many users such as in the public safety field. Shared PAN devices continually need to be re-associated depending upon who is using a particular mobile radio, cell phone, PDA, headset, etc. Known methods of associating PAN devices do not provide a means of quickly re-associating devices in such situations.
Other known methods of associating PAN devices include:
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0201301, which discloses a self-associating wireless area network in which devices that should be added to a PAN are determined based upon device range and relative motion. This approach fails if the two PAN users are in range but are not moving relative to one another.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0198029 discloses a method of forming an ad hoc relationship between two devices wherein the devices enter a “hugging state” (touching or in close proximity) before forming the association. The method requires the two devices to exchange a handle by reading the RFID tag of the hugged device, requiring the devices to provide both RFID tag and RFID reader components integrated with the device, thereby adding cost and complexity.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0043021 presents time-based identification of a wireless device but requires a network access point that can monitor the device prior to the device joining the PAN network.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0073795 requires two devices to exchange a password through an out of band process in order to join a network, requiring the ability for the devices to exchange a password.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0203381 discloses touching two devices together or bringing them into close proximity to cause the devices to attempt to form an association. The method is insecure in that once the device discovers a nearby wireless device a trigger time is not used to confirm that the discovered device is the correct target. Therefore, this method will not work reliably when two PAN users are within range of each other and both want to establish PAN connections.
Therefore it is desirable to provide a method and system for associating devices in a personal area network that is flexible, where it would be simple to associate a device with one PAN at one moment and with a different PAN at some later period in time. Moreover, the method and system should be relatively secure where a user can prevent a co-worker from over hearing a private conversation over the PAN. Additionally, the method and system should provide a quick and easy to build association between wireless devices by eliminating the need to remember and enter PINs and passcodes or to re-program PINs or passcodes to build the association.
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